| 7. Tourism and Leisure |
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According to the 2003 White Paper
on Leisure (*1) released by the Japan Productivity Center for
Socio-Economic Development (*2), spending for leisure activities—expenses
for eating out, durable goods (vehicles, furniture, etc.), culture
and entertainment, sports, traveling, and pocket money—rose
0.5% on the year to ¥82.96 trillion in 2002, marking the
first gain in six years. The growth was largely due to growth
in areas related to gambling, such as pachinko pinball and slot
machines. But most sectors, such as sports and tourism, continued
to record declines, reflecting the lingering economic downturn
and deflationary trend.
Due to an increase in the number of slot machines, the pachinko
market grew 5.1%. In addition, the lottery market rose 2.1%,
helping to boost the leisure market category. But overall, 48
of the 78 sectors surveyed in the study showed market contractions.
For instance, sports activity markets shrank 3% as people stayed
away from sports, like golf, that require time and money, and
instead favored activities such as exercise. As for leisure-related
areas expected to see growth, the white paper cited household
pets, cellular phone use, and activities such as walking.
Travel
According to the 2003 white paper on tourism (*3), the number
of Japanese who traveled abroad in 2002 rose 1.9% from the previous
year to 16.52 million. The United States came first in the destination
ranking, followed by China, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong
and Thailand. The number of Japanese traveling abroad has steadily
increased since Japanese overseas tourism was liberalized in
1964. The largest drop was marked in 2001 following the terrorist
attacks in the United States on September 11 and the US-led
military operations in Afghanistan. In the opposite direction,
5.24 million foreigners visited Japan, exceeding the five million
mark for the first time. During 2002 Japanese spent ¥4.6
trillion abroad, including passenger transportation, while foreign
visitors spent ¥1.4 trillion in Japan, resulting in a relative
outflow from Japan of ¥3.2 trillion, which has contributed
toward shrinking the country's surplus. As for 2003, the war
in Iraq and the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) weighed heavily on the travel industry.
Meanwhile, the number of domestic sightseeing trips involving
overnight stays during 2002 decreased slightly to an average
of 1.41 trips per person, marking five consecutive years of
decline. Japan's domestic tourism comes in three major waves:
the winter holidays around New Year, the so-called golden week
of consecutive holidays in late April and early May, and the
summer holidays in July and August. In order to promote long-weekend
travel and other leisure activities among the Japanese people,
the Revised National Holidays Law, popularly known as the Happy
Monday Law, came into effect in 2000.
Luxury Tours Favored Among Seniors
High-priced overseas package tours are selling strongly in Japan
as tours featuring nothing but low prices do not attract repeat
clients, while demand for tours offering better hotels and new
tourist spots are growing, especially among the elderly. JTB
Corporation (*4), for example, attracted 5,000 people to its
eight-day package tours to Venice and three other Italian cities
in 2002, up 40% over the previous year, though the travel agency
conducted no special sales campaign. The tour, which JTB began
more than seven years ago, is offered for an average of ¥300,000
per person and is known for providing high-quality hotels and
meals.
Other travel agencies are also stepping up their offerings of
luxury tours, some of which are even priced at more than ¥10
million. The growth of such demand is being fueled by the expanding
number of people aged 50 and older, who generally have higher
disposable income to spend on travel than the younger generation.
"Visit Japan" Campaign
In January 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi set a goal
of doubling the number of foreign travelers to Japan to 10 million
by 2010, and the government has earmarked ¥2 billion for
a "Visit Japan" campaign to spearhead the country's
drive to become a top tourist destination.(*5) To date, Japan
has been far from a popular destination for international travelers.
While some 16 million Japanese go abroad every year, only 5
million foreigners come as visitors. Japan ranks somewhere on
the 30-40th level bracket in terms of popularity among globe-trotting
tourists, lower than China or the Republic of Korea.(*6)
In addition to expectations that tourism could accelerate cross-border
flow of people as well as goods and money, efforts to promote
tourism have the advantage of spreading knowledge and information
about Japanese society and culture to the rest of the world.
Koizumi's new panel on tourism promotion is an initial step
in a government-led drive to make Japan a serious competitor
on the international travel market. The climate for such a campaign
has never been better, with the number of overseas travelers
from China and other East Asian countries expected to surge
as their economies continue to grow. In 2002, the number of
visitors from China and the Republic of Korea increased by 15.6%
and 12.2% respectively. Travelers from other parts of Asia accounted
for 65% of the 5.24 million foreigners visited Japan in 2002.
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*1. https://www2.jpc-sed.or.jp/files00.nsf/276697182031a3fd4925672c001a56da/
1e76c8bc2bd1d43849256d7c002c054b/
$FILE/_a22bnc44mu4899h9g6co3gc9i_.doc
*2. http://www.jpc-sed.or.jp/
*3. http://www.mlit.go.jp/hakusyo/kankou-hakusyo/h15/images/02.pdf
*4. http://www.jtb.co.jp/
*5. http://www.japanwelcomesyou.com/
*6. http://www.mlit.go.jp/kisha/kisha02/01/011224_3/011224_3.pdf
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Theme Parks in Struggle for Survival
The country's major theme parks, popular spots for Japanese
families and young lovers to spend their holidays, are struggling
to find ways to survive in a time when many of them are suffering
stalled revenue growth. Heavy debt burdens, due to massive initial
investments, pose another problem plaguing many theme parks
throughout the country. With banks under increasing government
pressure to dispose of bad debts, the parks will have to weather
an even tougher environment to survive.
In February 2003,the failure of Huis Ten Bosch (*1), the Dutch
theme park opened in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1992, symbolized
the difficulties that many theme parks are facing today. It
was the second largest resort-related bankruptcy in Japanese
history, on the heels of Sea Gaia (*2), another Kyushu-based
project which failed in 2001.
Despite the generally weak performance among theme parks, Tokyo
Disneyland (*3), by far the most successful theme park in the
country, celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2003. According
to Oriental Land Company (*4), which operates the theme park
in Chiba Prefecture just outside the capital, Tokyo Disneyland,
coupled with its neighbor Tokyo Disney Sea, which opened in
September 2001, attracted 24.82 million visitors in fiscal year
2002, up 13% from a year earlier.(*5) Over 260 million visitors
have poured through the gates in the two decades since opening.
In March 2001, Universal Studio Japan, another Hollywood-oriented
movie theme park, opened in Osaka. The park is operated by the
USJ Company, and a consortium of local government and domestic
and foreign companies. Initially, USJ drew more-than-projected
crowds. But the park has been suffering a setback in its popularity
following a series of safety-related scandals, revealed in a
decline of the number of visitors in summer 2002.
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*1. http://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/index.html
*2. http://www.seagaia.co.jp/index_e.htm
*3. http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/index_e.html
*4. http://www.olc.co.jp/en/utility/sitemap.html
*5. http://www.olc.co.jp/company/guest/index.html
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Karaoke
With the popularity of karaoke in Japan fizzling in an oversaturated
market, the number of booths in karaoke parlors fell nationwide
for five consecutive years after peaking in 1996. In 2002, there
was a marginal rise from a year earlier to 137,000, although
the number of visitors remained unchanged at about 48 million
(*1), according to the All-Japan Karaoke Industrialist Association.(*2)
Karaoke room operators are competing harder than ever to attract
customers by providing more advanced music systems.
A decade after on-demand karaoke systems hit the market, upgraded
models are showing up at karaoke parlors, restaurants and bars
with internet-based functions that automatically adapt the range
or speed of music to the singer. Some models even invite budding
pop stars to take part in online musical auditions. Industry
leader Daiichi Kosho (*3), for example, introduced in October
2003 the commercial-use BB cyber DAM system, which transmits
the customer's voice via broadband networks to the firm's musical
data distribution center. The center then sends the customer
feedback on the chances of becoming a star based on the singer's
voice and picture, which are sent over the network separately
and critiqued. The system provides a service in which 10 or
so well-informed judges, including producers and composers,
assess a singer's talent for a ¥3,000 fee. The company also
sponsors a satellite-based TV audition program for new singers
in which customers can take part from karaoke rooms. Meanwhile,
Taito Corporation (*4), a manufacturer of video game machines
for amusement arcades, released the sophisticated Lavca karaoke
in April 2003, which automatically recognizes a song's tempo
and the voice quality of the singer and adjusts the musical
accompaniment by speeding it up or slowing it down. It also
allows customers to sing a new song while listening to a model
vocal performance. Another function enables customers to insert
their favorite sounds into the accompaniment.
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*1. http://www.japan-karaoke.com/05hakusyo/p1.html
*2. http://www.japan-karaoke.com/index.html
*3. http://www.dkkaraoke.co.jp/
*4. http://www.taito.co.jp/
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